Reconstructing Kobe

David W. Edgington

Six thousand people died and hundreds of thousands lost their homes when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Kobe in January 1995. It was the largest disaster to affect postwar Japan and one of the most destructive postwar natural disasters to strike a developed country. Although the media focused on the disaster's immediate effects, the long-term reconstruction efforts have gone largely unexplored. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with planners, activists, and bureaucrats, David Edgington records the first ten years of reconstruction and recovery efforts and offers detailed descriptions of the geography of crisis and opportunity. Which districts were most vulnerable to quake and why? Did policy makers and planners exploit opportunities to revitalize the city and make it more sustainable and disaster proof? Edgington's intricate investigation of Japanese urban policy, local...